NEW DELHI: Whether or not Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa steps down from his post on July 26, he has already created a record of sorts in the BJP, which is at the helm at the centre and in the state. His record would get further strengthened if he continues as the state CM beyond the date when a meeting of BJP legislature party takes place.
Of the 30 CMs in the country, 18 belong to the NDA of which the BJP is one of the leading constituents. Yediyurappa, at 78 years of age, is the oldest among them.
Among the 30 CMs, Yediyurappa is younger than just Amarinder Singh of Punjab who is 79 years old.
Including Yediyurappa and Amarinder, only eight CMs are 70 or above. While Pu Zoramthanga of Mizoram is 77, Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala is 76 and Naveen Patnaik of Odisha is 74. Four CMs – Nitish Kumar of Bihar, Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Neiphiu Rio of Nagaland and N Rangaswamy of Puducherry – are 70 years of age.
Yediyurappa also holds a rare distinction of being the oldest among all the incumbent BJP office-bearers and Union ministers, braving the party’s unwritten dictum of retiring its leaders from active politics after they attain 75 years of age.
The Karnataka CM, who is credited with bringing the BJP back to power in the state seems to be a beneficiary of TINA (there is no alternative) factor.
However, more than two dozen BJP leaders were not as fortunate as Yediyurappa and had to bid adieu to posts in the organisation or as a minister in the government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah, as party president, held the reins of governance since 2014.
ANANDIBEN PATEL
Yediyurappa’s case could be compared with Anandiben Patel, 79, who succeeded Narendra Modi as the Gujarat CM after the latter moved to the Centre as Prime Minister in 2014.
She had to step down from her Gujarat CM’s post about three months before she turned 75. She was replaced by Vijay Rupani in August 2016.
Patel was appointed as the Madhya Pradesh governor in January 2018 and was shifted to neighbouring Uttar Pradesh in the same capacity in July 2019.
LK ADVANI
The former deputy prime minister, one of the founding leaders of the BJP in 1980, was one of the first to be retired on the basis of age. At 86, he successfully contested his seventh consecutive Lok Sabha election from Gandhinagar in 2014. That turned out to be his last election.
After Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, Advani was ‘elevated’ and included in the newly-created ‘Margdarshak Mandal’ (guiding team) of the BJP with Amit Shah as the party president.
Advani, 93, was not given a ticket to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election. He has retired from active politics since then.
MURLI MANOHAR JOSHI
Along with Advani, Joshi, 87, was also first made a member of the BJP’s ‘Margdarshak Mandal’ in 2014 and then denied a ticket in 2019. Like Advani, he was also one of the founding members of the BJP. He had also contested his last Lok Sabha election in 2014. A sitting MP from Varanasi, he vacated the seat for Modi to contest and shifted to Kanpur Kanpur.
SHANTA KUMAR
Like Advani and MM Joshi, Shanta Kumar, 86, too contested his last election in 2014. However, he was neither included in the Modi cabinet nor given a ticket in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
A former chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, he contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Kangra. Earlier, he was a Union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet.
JASWANT SINGH
A former Union minister in the Vajpayee government till 2004, Jaswant Singh was denied a ticket in the 2014 Lok Sabha election because of two reasons – he was 76 years of age and his son was also in the BJP.
Unlike Advani, Joshi and Shanta Kumar, Singh chose to rebel against the party. He contested as an independent candidate from Barmer in Rajasthan and lost to the BJP candidate. He was expelled from the party.
Jaswant Singh suffered a head injury in August 2014. He died in September 2020.
YASHWANT SINHA
Like Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, 83, was a Union minister in the Vajpayee government till 2004. Again like Singh, he was denied a ticket from his traditional Hazaribagh constituency in Jharkhand in 2014.
The BJP instead fielded his son Jayant Sinha from Hazaribagh in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Jayant Sinha won the election and was made a Union minister in the Modi government.
Yashwant Sinha became a vociferous critic of the Modi government before quitting the party in 2018. He spoke against the new practice of retiring leaders after 75 years of age.
He joined West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) earlier this year. He is the national vice-president of the party.
KALYAN SINGH
Former CM of Uttar Pradesh, Kalyan Singh, 89, was Lok Sabha MP from Etah from 2009 to 2014.
At 82 years of age, he was made the governor of Rajasthan in 2014. He completed his full term at the gubernatorial post till 2019.
BHAGAT SINGH KOSHIYARI
Former Uttarakhand CM, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari was Lok Sabha MP from Nainital between 2014 and 2019. He was 72 when he contested the 2014 general election.
At 79, he was made Maharashtra governor in September 2019.
SUMITRA MAHAJAN
The former Lok Sabha speaker from 2014-2019, Sumitra Mahajan won eight consecutive Lok Sabha elections from the same seat of Indore in Madhya Pradesh since 1989.
Born on April 12, 1943, Sumitra Mahajan turned 75 in 2018. She was denied a ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
NAJMA HEPTULLA
The former deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Najma Heptulla, 81, was included in the 2014 Modi ministry and held the portfolio of minority affairs.
Born on April 13, 1940, she was replaced by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in July 2016 at the age of 76 years. She was made Manipur governor. She is also the chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi.
KALRAJ MISHRA
Much like Najma Heptulla, Kalraj Mishra, 80, was dropped as Union micro, small and medium (MSME) minister in 2017, upon crossing 75. He was made the Rajasthan governor in July 2019.
CP THAKUR
CP Thakur, 89, was Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar from 2014 to April 2020. Instead of renominating him to the Rajya Sabha, the BJP chose his son Vivek Thakur to succeed him in the Upper House.
VAJUBHAI VALA
Born on January 13, 1939, Vajubhai Bala contested his last assembly election from Rajkot in Gujarat in 2012 at the age of 73.
Considered close to Modi, he held the post of speaker of the Gujarat assembly between January 23, 2012 and August 31, 2014.
Vala, 83, was appointed as the Karnataka governor on September 1, 2014. He was on the post till July 6. Former Union minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot, 73, succeeded him as Karnataka governor earlier this month.
LALJI TANDON
A veteran BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh, Lalji Tandon contested his last Lok Sabha election in 2009 from Lucknow, the seat vacated by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Tandon defeated the then Congress candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi who is now a BJP MP.
He was 79 at the time of the 2014 Lok Sabha election and did not get a ticket to contest. He was made the Bihar governor in 2018 and shifted as Madhya Pradesh governor in 2019, replacing Anandiben Patel. He died in July 2020 at the age of 85 years.
Of the 30 CMs in the country, 18 belong to the NDA of which the BJP is one of the leading constituents. Yediyurappa, at 78 years of age, is the oldest among them.
Among the 30 CMs, Yediyurappa is younger than just Amarinder Singh of Punjab who is 79 years old.
Including Yediyurappa and Amarinder, only eight CMs are 70 or above. While Pu Zoramthanga of Mizoram is 77, Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala is 76 and Naveen Patnaik of Odisha is 74. Four CMs – Nitish Kumar of Bihar, Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Neiphiu Rio of Nagaland and N Rangaswamy of Puducherry – are 70 years of age.
Yediyurappa also holds a rare distinction of being the oldest among all the incumbent BJP office-bearers and Union ministers, braving the party’s unwritten dictum of retiring its leaders from active politics after they attain 75 years of age.
The Karnataka CM, who is credited with bringing the BJP back to power in the state seems to be a beneficiary of TINA (there is no alternative) factor.
However, more than two dozen BJP leaders were not as fortunate as Yediyurappa and had to bid adieu to posts in the organisation or as a minister in the government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah, as party president, held the reins of governance since 2014.
ANANDIBEN PATEL
Yediyurappa’s case could be compared with Anandiben Patel, 79, who succeeded Narendra Modi as the Gujarat CM after the latter moved to the Centre as Prime Minister in 2014.
She had to step down from her Gujarat CM’s post about three months before she turned 75. She was replaced by Vijay Rupani in August 2016.
Patel was appointed as the Madhya Pradesh governor in January 2018 and was shifted to neighbouring Uttar Pradesh in the same capacity in July 2019.
LK ADVANI
The former deputy prime minister, one of the founding leaders of the BJP in 1980, was one of the first to be retired on the basis of age. At 86, he successfully contested his seventh consecutive Lok Sabha election from Gandhinagar in 2014. That turned out to be his last election.
After Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, Advani was ‘elevated’ and included in the newly-created ‘Margdarshak Mandal’ (guiding team) of the BJP with Amit Shah as the party president.
Advani, 93, was not given a ticket to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election. He has retired from active politics since then.
MURLI MANOHAR JOSHI
Along with Advani, Joshi, 87, was also first made a member of the BJP’s ‘Margdarshak Mandal’ in 2014 and then denied a ticket in 2019. Like Advani, he was also one of the founding members of the BJP. He had also contested his last Lok Sabha election in 2014. A sitting MP from Varanasi, he vacated the seat for Modi to contest and shifted to Kanpur Kanpur.
SHANTA KUMAR
Like Advani and MM Joshi, Shanta Kumar, 86, too contested his last election in 2014. However, he was neither included in the Modi cabinet nor given a ticket in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
A former chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, he contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Kangra. Earlier, he was a Union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet.
JASWANT SINGH
A former Union minister in the Vajpayee government till 2004, Jaswant Singh was denied a ticket in the 2014 Lok Sabha election because of two reasons – he was 76 years of age and his son was also in the BJP.
Unlike Advani, Joshi and Shanta Kumar, Singh chose to rebel against the party. He contested as an independent candidate from Barmer in Rajasthan and lost to the BJP candidate. He was expelled from the party.
Jaswant Singh suffered a head injury in August 2014. He died in September 2020.
YASHWANT SINHA
Like Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, 83, was a Union minister in the Vajpayee government till 2004. Again like Singh, he was denied a ticket from his traditional Hazaribagh constituency in Jharkhand in 2014.
The BJP instead fielded his son Jayant Sinha from Hazaribagh in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Jayant Sinha won the election and was made a Union minister in the Modi government.
Yashwant Sinha became a vociferous critic of the Modi government before quitting the party in 2018. He spoke against the new practice of retiring leaders after 75 years of age.
He joined West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) earlier this year. He is the national vice-president of the party.
KALYAN SINGH
Former CM of Uttar Pradesh, Kalyan Singh, 89, was Lok Sabha MP from Etah from 2009 to 2014.
At 82 years of age, he was made the governor of Rajasthan in 2014. He completed his full term at the gubernatorial post till 2019.
BHAGAT SINGH KOSHIYARI
Former Uttarakhand CM, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari was Lok Sabha MP from Nainital between 2014 and 2019. He was 72 when he contested the 2014 general election.
At 79, he was made Maharashtra governor in September 2019.
SUMITRA MAHAJAN
The former Lok Sabha speaker from 2014-2019, Sumitra Mahajan won eight consecutive Lok Sabha elections from the same seat of Indore in Madhya Pradesh since 1989.
Born on April 12, 1943, Sumitra Mahajan turned 75 in 2018. She was denied a ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
NAJMA HEPTULLA
The former deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Najma Heptulla, 81, was included in the 2014 Modi ministry and held the portfolio of minority affairs.
Born on April 13, 1940, she was replaced by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in July 2016 at the age of 76 years. She was made Manipur governor. She is also the chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi.
KALRAJ MISHRA
Much like Najma Heptulla, Kalraj Mishra, 80, was dropped as Union micro, small and medium (MSME) minister in 2017, upon crossing 75. He was made the Rajasthan governor in July 2019.
CP THAKUR
CP Thakur, 89, was Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar from 2014 to April 2020. Instead of renominating him to the Rajya Sabha, the BJP chose his son Vivek Thakur to succeed him in the Upper House.
VAJUBHAI VALA
Born on January 13, 1939, Vajubhai Bala contested his last assembly election from Rajkot in Gujarat in 2012 at the age of 73.
Considered close to Modi, he held the post of speaker of the Gujarat assembly between January 23, 2012 and August 31, 2014.
Vala, 83, was appointed as the Karnataka governor on September 1, 2014. He was on the post till July 6. Former Union minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot, 73, succeeded him as Karnataka governor earlier this month.
LALJI TANDON
A veteran BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh, Lalji Tandon contested his last Lok Sabha election in 2009 from Lucknow, the seat vacated by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Tandon defeated the then Congress candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi who is now a BJP MP.
He was 79 at the time of the 2014 Lok Sabha election and did not get a ticket to contest. He was made the Bihar governor in 2018 and shifted as Madhya Pradesh governor in 2019, replacing Anandiben Patel. He died in July 2020 at the age of 85 years.
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